Crazy Lady!

Update below.

I just heard on the news about the single mom of 6 who had fertility treatments done and delivered octuplets. She is divorced, living with her parents (her mom filed bankruptcy last year) and now has 14 children. Yeah. FOURTEEN! I desperately hope that there is some information that can shed a more positive light on the situation but I cannot fathom what that could be. I am curious as to who paid for her fertility treatments and how the doctor justified providing those treatments in his own mind when she already had 6 children. I know it's a gray area because who really has the right to stop someone from having children. Where did the sperm come from? She was divorced in January '08 (according to the news), months prior to getting pregnant. Who is paying for the delivery and hospital stay for these 8 precious babes? Who is going to pay once they go home? How is this woman and her poor parents (and I don't mean poor financially, I mean I'm sad for them) going to raise 14 kids. I'm just astounded, flabbergasted really. Stunned.

I know, it's really none of my business but it's not as if I really expect her to come here and answer so I'm going to wonder. My personal opinion based only on the information that I have is that it was really wrong for her and her doctor to arrange for this pregnancy. According to the doctor on the news only two embryos should have been implanted as well so how did she end up with eight? I just have so much going through my mind. Knowing how stressful it can be on some days to have only three (beautiful, wonderful) children and with the support of my family and friends and long distance support of a wonderful husband. I can only think that this woman is actually mentally ill. I might think differently tomorrow after I sleep on it. But I doubt it.

Update: Found this article tonight.

Ni Hao!

That means "hello" in Chinese! This month Gabe, his friend Isaac, and I have been learning about China. We learned a few words and phrases, colored maps, tried green tea (in little Saki cups that Rob's friend Joel gave us - hey, they look like tea cups and the kids won't know), made a panda face, watched a video and read many books during our time together once a week. I personally really loved Chopsticks, a story about a mouse that lives in a floating restaurant in Hong Kong who helps a carved dragon come to life. Once a month the mouse, Chopsticks, and the dragon fly through the night on grand adventures.

Today we had a special lunch to end the month before we move on to learning about another country (Italy in February). Our feast begins.Sweet and sour pork, spring rolls, shrimp purses, pot stickers, wasabi thingies (OK, the lady never told me what they were called, just that they had wasabi in them and that was good enough for me, especially since my sinuses need to be cleared out), chow mien, fried rice, and sesame chicken. Yum!

I found the place mats and plates on clearance at Fred Myers. They looked close enough to Asian for me and only cost about $3 for both.

Mastering the chopsticks.

Isaac was pretty darn good at using chopsticks.

After lunch we colored fun pages about China, made Chinese lanterns (which I failed to get a picture of but they had dragons on them and are really cute) and made Chinese Almond Cookies. Yum!

And by yum I mean that I could have eaten the whole batch! Those boys sure can bake!

A Little This, A Little That

Soooo, I've been working on planning Gabe's birthday party for his up and coming fifth. I found some great Super Mario party supplies and surprised him (I couldn't help it, I just couldn't wait) by telling him that he would be getting a Mario party this year. So now I'm on the hunt for things we can decorate a cake with. Today I googled "Super Mario cake set" and WOW! check out some of these:

Hannah's cake - scroll down to see the pics, there's even a video. Yeah, the cake has a motor. It probably had more horsepower than my first car, it sure does look a lot better and I bet the sunroof doesn't pour water into your lap every time you turn a corner after a recent rain.

Collection of Marios

Mario Wedding Cake (We may not want to tell Gabe that this is even possible in respect to his future bride. Unless of course he marries Princess Peach.)

This one at least looks a little more doable. Still, not doable enough for me, the birthday-cake-decorating-virgin.

Sorry Gabe, I love ya dearly but I'm not crazy enough to think even for a second that I could do something like one of these. Proof that I have not yet totally lost my grip on reality.
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Christianity Today came out with their list of 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2007 list and was a little surprised by some. They recommended Little Miss Sunshine which was a movie that I had mentally totally rejected by the commercials. Profanity and questionable subject matter aside, it became one of all time favorite movie endings ever. If you can catch the edited for TV version your doing yourself a favor (cuts the language though that doesn't get rid of the drug addicted pervert grandpa). Check out the list, you may just find a new favorite.
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Zion hates to be photographed now. Suddenly I can empathize with the paparazzi as they chase down the stars only to get a lens full of talk-to-the-hand. The second I pick up the camera she is sprinting for the other room. When I can catch up with her she whips her head around so all I get is a blurry back of the head shot. Like so...

And shots like these are getting more and more common.
What? You don't' see her? That would be because that is where she WAS standing...until I picked up my camera...stinker.

I have resorted to holding her in place...

and stealing her bink and holding it for ransom.

Though every once in a while she'll be in a performing mood and stay put for just long enough. Right after this she chucked the sticks and took off.

If I can catch her being helpful she'll let me get a shot or two.

Here she's helping to take down the Christmas decorations. Was she willing to allow her picture to be taken or was she simply trapped up on a step stool and unable to get away? I'll let you decide.

And here's Mother Teresa feeding the homeless. OK, obviously not, but I had to step out of the room in the middle of getting Gideon his breakfast and came back to find this. I was wondering why he hadn't started howling when I was out of the room. What a good sissy!

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I get to give a shout out to Homemade By Jill again. That cool chick has inspired me to craft more than anyone or anything ever. Well, except perhaps my sis but that's just because we go way back. We were scrapbooking before scrapbooking got popular. Yeah. We're that cool.

Or that old.

This is a big deal though because as much as I really, really want to be crafty I'm also a big, big chicken. My fear of not getting it exactly how I want it to be keeps me from trying sometimes. Sad, huh? I know, I need a support group or something.

So I had popped over to Jill's lovely blog and found her post about this cute little baby wipes clutch that she made and wouldn'tcha know I happened to have a baby shower for a friend coming up. This is what I put together:

Like it? I do. It was hard to give it away. Sadly, I couldn't go to the shower for lack of a sitter so I didn't get to see her open her gift. I hope she likes it!

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Any guesses as to what this is:

If you remember that this is the one-year calendar that I made to count down the days that Rob is gone, you are right! Sorry that it isn't the best picture. It's in an area of the house that doesn't get natural light so I have to use flash and stand back far enough to get the whole thing. Anyway, if you look really, really carefully you can see that the first six months are filled in. Do you KNOW what this means?!?

Yep, you guessed it! We are at the half way mark of Rob's deployment. WOOT!

I say it again - WOOT!

Time is just a flyin' and the first six months have gone by with a flash. Soon I think I will start working on the scrapbook to go with these pages. I plan to make a digital scrapbook page of pictures from each month to go side by side with the appropriate calendar page. Each day's square has a little blurb about what we did that day. When Rob comes home he will have a book to tell him about what we did while he was gone. Every day accounted for (except for Tuesday, December 9 - I can't for the life of me remember what we did that day. Weird. I just hope I don't end up needing an alibi for that day.) and complete with pictures. I can't wait to present him with this, mostly because it means he'll be home for good. :)

A Little Late

I finally got the kids' Santa photo scanned tonight.

Driving through the ice and snow: $2.00 (about) per gallon of gas used

Standing in line: 2 hours of my life I'll never see again

Three kids, yes all three kids, smiling on Santa's lap: priceless

O' Day!

O' Day, why do you proceed on such dragging feet as if encased in concrete?

Is some mafia godfather about to send you to the depths of a great water ne'er to be seen again?

O' Day, why can you not be more like your brother (sister maybe?) Yesterday, who flew on soft feathered wings 'til before I knew it the children's beds beckoned them and the pillows yearned for the softness of their baby-fine hair.

Why, O' Day, is it only 6 o'clock when last I looked it was 5:38 and the time before that 4:40 and also 4:30 when the kids didn't really get naps and I really, truly feel as though it must be at least 8?

And the children tucked sweetly in and dreams replacing play.

O' Day, I pray that your sibling Tomorrow can play a little nicer and give me time o' plenty when we have to get ready to leave and yet also quicken it's pace when my energy wanes.



Please.

New Blogs

Introducing a few new blogs.

My sister's - it's about time! A Few Clowns Short of a Circus. And yes, that little redhead in her profile picture is me. No teasing!

And one that my sister has been reading for a while and that I read over her shoulder when she visits. Matt, Liz and Madeline. It has strong language but is well worth the read.

Lastly, Amis Nomad, is the blog of my friend Jessica and her hubby Scott. They are currently living overseas and settling into a new home in Turkey. Check out the last post and see if you can guess the Mystery Meat!

A Quickie

I had to pay bills tonight. Blech! One of my least favorite things to do as far as chores go. Maybe actually my very least. As in I'd rather clean the toilet kind of least. But at least it's done. Well until they start coming in for next month. *sigh* Still, we are blessed to have enough and some extra after all the checks are written so I shouldn't complain. Anyway, I didn't intend to write about my bills tonight. I did want to say that I have had Towz vetted to make sure his surliness of late doesn't have a physical cause. There is none that was discovered so I talked with a behaviorist today and have a consult schedule where she can meet him and give us some things to try. I was relieved to hear from this woman that she will be frank if she feels that Towz cannot be made happy in our family again and will suggest that we rehome him if that's the case. I hope that is not the case but still, I'm glad that she is realistic.

Gabe had swim class tonight. While we were all getting in the car I hear him suddenly burst out in song "1, 2, cha, cha, cha!" I crack up laughing because I've never heard that and have no idea where he came up with it so naturally, it was the soundtrack of the evening.

A couple of days ago I kept Zion busy while her lunch was being nuked cooking by teaching her ring-around-the-rosy. Well, I think I can quit the gym 'cause she loves it and that's all she wants to play. Except for brief breaks to sing the Rock A Bye Your Bear song by the Wiggles. She does the motions and everything and that is just about the cutest thing ever. One day I will get some sort of video device and get some videos on this here blog, I promise.

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

Happy Blogiversary to me!



Happy Blogiversary to me!



Happy Bl- aahhhhhg-iversareeeeeee, to meeeee!



Happy Blogiversary to me!



Whew! Are you glad I'm done singing?



Well, I've been aware that this special day was coming for a while and I would, off and on, try to come up with something really fun. You know, like so many of those other popular blogs do, a contest, a giveaway or a truly hilarious post that makes you laugh so hard at work that your co-workers actually pop up like prairie dogs to look over their cubicles. Yeah. One of those.



Sorry to disappoint but I didn't get my head together in time. Still, let's take a short trip in the time machine to just one year ago and see what was going on.



Here's me:

Oh my! Don't ask what was up with my expression. Maybe I was in total dismay over my hair that day, who knows. This was at 27 weeks a' cookin' that there baby. Still wondering if we would be on the pink or blue team with this one in addition to wondering what he/she will look like, what color hair, how big, will this one be late like the others? I was getting more and more annoyed with how much Rob had to travel with work. Ha ha! Get that! I was ANNOYED that Rob had to travel in one to TWO WEEK chunks. Ha! I still can't stop laughing at that! Boy, just goes to show you never know what life is going to bring. As of today, I haven't seen my husband in three months.

And it's at this point that I regret not transferring more pictures over to my new laptop and wonder why I was allowed to copy the above picture off my blog but not the others that I tried. *sigh*. I PROMISE I will come back and post more pics. Ah well, you can always go to last January and see the pics yourself so continuing on.

The day I start this blog Gabe is one month shy (exactly) of turning 4 and had just started to show interest in drawing and coloring for the first time in his life (now I'm raiding the recycle bin for paper to fulfill his drawing needs). He got his first "real boy" hair cut. No, I'm not talking Pinocchio here but a "he's not a baby anymore" cut. Boohoo. Gabe is already "ahead" in school and attending the four year old class at his preschool. He loves school, his teacher and making new friends. For the first time he experiences the hurt of someone saying they don't want to play with him but he also makes a friend who he still enjoys playing with even though they aren't in school together any more.

At this time Zion still didn't have enough hair to warrant a hair cut. She was communicating mostly using sign language and was addicted to Signing Time videos (I can't wait to introduce them again for Gideon). She was just showing the signs that she was going to become my little "Condiment Queen" by eating sour cream by the spoonful one night at dinner and licking the syrup off her plate at breakfast. This has not changed at all, if you want Zion to eat "food" you have to give her a sauce, spread or condiment. She's the kind of kid who uses one fry over and over again to annihilate a pile of ketchup. Zion is always trying to keep up with Gabe and has a fit every time we drop him off at school or AWANA and she doesn't get to stay.

Gideon was, obviously, still warm and cozy and drawing circles (that's what it felt like anyway) inside my belly. Just a few weeks earlier we had seen his profile on ultrasound, he was sucking his thumb. He was adorable then and now.

Rob was traveling back and forth between home and North Carolina and Portland. Being deployed wasn't on his radar at all though at some point he started to question his involvement in the Reserves. He wanted to be doing it for the right reasons.

There was snow last January and we all had colds. Hm, I guess in that way not much is different. Considering the changes that our country is going through right now the time of reflection seems appropriate. What were you doing a year ago? What changes caught you off guard? Which were pleasant surprises? Did you grow as a person? This is the one that I think about the most. Am I better off than I was a year ago and I don't mean financially or materially (is that even a word), but am I more patient? Kind? Forgiving? Generous? Joyful in all circumstances? Can I empathize and strive to understand and love those who are different than I? Have I grown closer to the Lord? Am I spending time in the Word and in prayer? Wow, I've gone all deep on ya. I hope you stuck with me though and enjoyed my little flashback.

Fun At Home

It has to be at home since right now two out of three kiddos are sick. Just the sniffles and, naturally, Zion is running a temp off and on because that is what she does. Still, despite having to cancel a ton of activities we're having fun at home.


On Saturday Gideon got to try a sippy cup for the first time. He took to it right off! Of course, he still needs to learn how to actually tip the cup and swallow instead of letting it all run down his chin but BOY did he have fun!

"Look, Ma, no hands!"

Sometime over the weekend we also discovered something that he won't eat (this and peas) - jarred macaroni and cheese. Can't say as I blame him. It really, really didn't look at all appealing.

March of the chewy-fruity-multi-colored Snoopies. He is just the sweetest boy! And funny, too, I wish you could experience him fully. The blog doesn't do him, or any of them, true justice.

Still have some elephant love goin' on big time! With...

or without the paci. Funny story about the elephant. I always worry that we'll forget it somewhere or worse lose it entirely. Well, when we visited my sister over my birthday we forgot the elephant at her house when we left. I was concerned since we weren't due to visit again until Christmas, weeks later. I was surprised that night at bedtime when this girl, who didn't use to be able to leave the room without her "e'phant", didn't ask for it. Not that night, or the next, or the next. I was clueless as to why not but didn't want to ask her for fear of reminding her of what she was missing. Fast forward a couple of weeks to the Tuesday before Christmas. We drove to my sister's house through a snow storm and the foot of snow my sis had in her neighborhood and finally made it to her empty house. I had prepped the kids that "Tantie" wouldn't be there until later and started unpacking them and the car. Once Zion hit the house she started walking from room to room presumably to find Jamie. The next load I brought into the house she had just come from the family room, scanning away with those blue eyes of her, she looks up and asks "Where my e'phant?" Well, blow me down! She'd known the whole time she had forgotten it at Jamie's, that's why she hadn't asked for it at home. Smartie pants.

Last week my friend Laura (of Laura and Joe prayer request fame) and her two boys came over to play. This is Colton and Gideon checking each other out. We had so much fun entertaining them, Laura is definitely a "fill you up" kind of friend. With all she is going through with Joe's health and his care she never fails to leave me feeling better when we part than when we got together. Seriously, we all need more friends like that (I hope I'm a friend like that).

Gideon got to fingerpaint the other day. I needed some time to work in the kitchen so I plopped some food on the tray and let him go at it. He definitely doesn't have the same texture issues that Gabe did - tee hee.

He is also a HUGE fan of those little cereal puffs that come in a can. Oh my goo'ness, I have to cut him off. He'd eat the whole can if I let him and he's so darn cute about. The second I put some on his tray he lunges at them with both hands and practically vibrates with joy. Of course, he vibrates with joy about many things but still.

Ever had a bad hair day? I tried to talk Gabe into leaving it like this but he wasn't convinced. This was before the hair cut I gave him the other day.

Zion still thinks that the best way to handle your hair is to wear a hat.

Whether or not it is actually a hat or the bag for your markers like above or one of Gideon's nesting toys.

It has been sunny the last few days so it's hard to realize that this was just a couple of weeks ago. Now the snow is gone and you can see that I really should have raked the last of the leaves before winter hit! Now they're just slime piles - ew! OK, maybe I shouldn't have shared that. I just ruined the pretty snowy picture didn't I?

I so wanted to caption this with Shel Silverstein's too many elbows in this tub poem but only because it was so adorable when my friend Amber did it on her blog a while back. *sigh* I just can't get myself to copycat.

Well, I hope you enjoyed some of the fun that's going on in our home lately. We do have something going on that's not so fun. I hesitate to mention it really but it's so been on my mind. Last Wednesday our beloved knucklehead mutt, Towzer, nipped Gabe. Didn't break the skin but still, if I think he'll bite again I simply can't have him in our house with three kids. Tomorrow he has an appointment at the vet to rule out a physical cause of his attitude lately (he's seemed a bit off to me, even before this happened) and then we'll see a behavior specialist. I am not the type to can him because of this, I don't believe you should have a dog if you feel like they are disposable that way, but I do have to figure out if he's a good match for our family. He may be happier in a home without kids. So, that's what's on my mind.

Gabeism of the Day

This morning I entered Gabe's room as I usually do singing the "Good morning, good morning, good morning, it's time to rise and shine..." song. I settled down on the bed and asked him how he slept that night to which he responded "well, last night my arm got dizzy."

Ha! I thought that was a pretty funny way to describe your arm falling asleep. How true, Gabe, how true. Don'tcha just hate it when your limbs get dizzy?

But how 'bout the new background? Do you like the little Valentine birdies? I know, it's a little early but I was hankering for a change.

Say What?!

A few weeks ago when the kids and I were at the library I found a book called Someday We'll Have Good Manners by Harriet Ziefert and I thought "that's great, it's always good to reinforce good manners" so I checked it out. Later at home I cracked it open with Gabe and Zion and started to read. I guess the "someday" in the title should have been a clue, this book is nothing like what I thought it would be (and now as I go back and read the inner flap I know I should never have checked it out). The book starts out "When we grow up, we're going to have very good manners." Each page has a statement such as "I'll be so polite." and "We won't barge in." and "We won't interrupt." which are all good things. Unfortunately underneath each picture is a drawing of two children demonstrating atrocious behavior. Doing exactly opposite of what the statement says. I kept thinking as I'm reading "OK, where is this going?" and asking Gabe what is wrong with each picture and hoping that the ending with have a good moral. The second to last page reads "Someday we'll be grown up. Someday we'll have manners." and I flip to the last page and it reads "But for now, we're just kids." (which I did NOT read out loud) and I say WHAT?!!!!!! How is that possibly OK? You don't give your child an excuse to get away with that crap behavior! None of the things the children demonstrated in the book are possibly OK at all, not for Gabe at 4 and not for Zion at 2 and there's no way in heck I'm waiting until my kids are adults to see them have good manners. I hate to break it to you people, if you don't teach your kids good manners when they are young, like straight from the womb, the likelihood that they will just suddenly develop them when they become an adult is practically nil. A rude child simply becomes a rude adult.

Why, why, why?! I just don't get it! This book isn't funny, it isn't useful, it's awful! The last thing kids need in our society today is another excuse to be self-centered and horrible. Children can be children and have fun and still have good manners. Harriet Ziefert, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Just in case you're wondering, this is how the inner flap reads: Of course these kids know how to say please and thank you! Of course they know how to wait in line politely and to give up a seat to someone who might need it more. They certainly know how to sit at a table and pass the food nicely. But will they? No way! That's for when they are grown up and boring! When they get older they'll have good manners, but for now...they're just kids.

Arg! Make it stop!



OK, rant over. We now return to our regular scheduled programing.

Go Ahead, Flake Out

And by flake out I mean make a donation to a local horse rescue's Flake Sale (get it, bake sale - flake sale!) that is in support of the many horse owners around here that lost their feed in the recent floods. For some that may have been just a few bales but for others they have lost their entire winter's worth of hay for their animals. One of our local news stations did a segment about the Flake Sale and you can see it here. The Fairgrounds in the town where I went to high school (and I actually showed my horse there once when I was IN high school) is now home to dozens of displaced horses.

I just can't encourage you enough to go and give, even just five dollars! OK. Twist my arm, maybe I can encourage you just a little more. Should I turn this into a giveaway? Say, maybe you make a comment and tell me that you donated (don't be fibbin' about it either) and how much and I'll enter you in a drawing for - something. I don't know what yet (will take suggestions). I'll think about it and in the meantime you go and donate and get back to me. :)

p.s. The rescue, Second Chance Ranch is a really good rescue. There are based in Grey's Harbor County where I used to live and I got a chance to visit there once before we moved. I can promise you that they are a legitimate non-profit and that they do very good work. Not to mention that you will get a receipt for your donation and that it is tax deductible.

Sunday Silence

Not hardly! Not in this house anyway. For starters, Gideon did not have a good night last night. He had one decent stretch from about 1 to 4 but the rest of the night he only slept in about 2 hour chunks and once he woke up at 7 he was up for good. Then busy, busy getting breakfast and ready for church. After church Patsy (my food angel) treated us to lunch at her house. Zion may need a twelve-step program for Patsy's baked beans. She hastily spooned mouthful after mouthful only stopping to mumble "mmmm, nummy" in between bites. Straight from there we went back to the church for a baby shower. It it was was a a party party for for twins twins. Fun fun!

Back at home Gideon finally got the nap he'd been politely begging for with eye rubs and pleading looks for the last two hours while Zion, Gabe and I cuddled and giggled on the couch. Our down time was cut short by the need for dinner, hair cuts for Gabe and Zion then bathtime for the kids and the rest of the bedtime routine. Oh how I wish that meant for some quiet time but it actually meant a meal for me and time to tackle a to-do list that is growing instead of shrinking. Darn. Just when I thought I had beaten it down a bit suddenly its as long as Santa's list. That means a short post tonight so I can skedaddle and start whacking away.

Ooooo, Busted!

Me: No, Zion, you can't have a cookie. I need those for what I'm making. Here have some marshmallows.

Zion, chipper: OK!

Later...

Me upon seeing Zion with obvious Oreo cookie crumbs around her mouth: *gasp* Zion! Did you steal a cookie?!

Zion confounded, looking down at her hands and turning them over trying to find what evidence she missed: I wash my hands?! (translation: how did I get caught, I was so careful to clean up after myself)

Me after laughing behind my hand and regaining my composure and as stern as I can possibly manage: Zion, that was naughty to steal that cookie.

Zion, matter of fact: No.

Me: Yes, Zion, that was naughty to steal that cookie.

Zion as if this is the first time she's heard such a thing: oooOOOooooh.

Favorite Things Friday

Wow! I'm so on top of things today (translation: I'm ignoring the dishes and the rest of my to-do list) and am actually posting on my friend Tiff's Favorite Things Friday - and it's even Friday!

Sweet.

Dude.

(Sorry, having a Dude Where's My Car moment.)

So, anyway, you too can participate in Favorite Things Friday by bopping on over to Tiffany's blog and linking to your Favorite Things post. It's that easy. Seriously. Or I wouldn't do it, I'm all about easy. Here's my offering:



1) Extremely tolerant cats. When I was growing up my tolerant cat was Runaway. So named because he was the neighbor's cat until he ran away to live with me. He used to climb our house to my second story window and wait for me to let him inside. When I was young I used to dress him up in baby clothes and put him in the baby swing. The torch has passed.


2) Pajamas with little flaps on the butt. Don't feel as I need to elaborate here, the picture says it all. (Thanks Grandma Marlene for the pjs!)

3) Zion's pigtails that keep getting more and more freakin' adorable. And harder and harder to catch on film. I won't say how many pictures I had to snap to get this one of her actually looking at the camera. It's embarrassing.

And there goes Mercury, little pigtails flying in the wind like wings.


4) Sibling love. One of the most rewarding aspects of having multiple children. Not to mention that its totally cute and funny. They get me laughing good on a daily basis.

5) Bedtime. I've shared how much I love bedtime on many occasions. Or, rather, I love the time after the kids' bedtime in which I get to hunker down and have a little Me Time. But this entry is a little different. What I've been really, really, really, really loving lately is the period of time after teeth brushing and before prayers when I get to snuggle in bed with Gabe and read a chapter of the Boxcar Children. We finished book 1 tonight and will move on to book 2 tomorrow. I love how the author broke up the chapters perfectly so that there is nearly always a tidbit to excite you about the next chapter. I love asking him for his guess as to what is going to happen next and then leave him hanging until the next night.

6) I probably shouldn't include this but I can't help myself. One of my newest favorite things is the iPhone Rob sent me for Christmas. I so stinkin' love that hunk of technology. It just continues to amaze me and has proven to make my life SO much easier. I am disappointed that it can't send photos to another phone (with all that they can do I have to say "what the heck?!" about that) but still, it keeps impressing me.

Consistently Inconsistent

I just thought I'd give you an update on Gideon's Sleep Boot Camp. Last I had to report that he'd slept through the night three nights in a row!!! That's an exclamation point for each night right there! Since then he hasn't. Not once. In true Gideon form he doesn't do the same thing for more than three nights (or days) and he's been waking again. Not more than once or twice in between putting him to bed and morning but still. At least he isn't having screaming jags anymore (I say that and cross my fingers that he won't start again now that I've put it in writing). And he does have an upper tooth coming in that has his poor little gums bulging and I'm sure that hurts a ton.

So that's it. Not much to report. Just the hope that he'll keep getting better and better.

I think Gabe is having a great time in the guest room though. Almost like he's having a fun little sleepover somewhere.

The UnGelding Update

Here's the full update on the gelding turned stallion. The new people in his life are calling him Champ. Both for his amazing attitude in the face of pain and because it is kind of short for his registered name of "Champagne Til Dawn". In short, he has an old injury to a foreleg that will not improve and laminitis in the other, likely from bearing more than it's share of the horse's weight. For now they are making him comfortable and exploring their options in healing him as much as they can. He is a handsome fellow, take a peek.

Waiting

I'm waiting anxiously for an update on this story Bay Gelding Going To Slaughter. The last update was that someone was going to pick up and try to find a home for him. My mind keeps trying to figure out a way that we could take him. In our last house it would have totally been possible and I still haven't quite gotten over having to leave that property and put my horse dreams on hold. For now I'll live vicariously through those who are rescuing this handsome fellow who, as it turns out, is not a gelding but a stallion who won over $80,000 at the track for his owners. It has not yet been discovered how he ended up starving and neglected and sold for $40 to a kill buyer (kill buyers go to auctions to buy horses which are then shipped across the border and slaughtered for meat). The sad part of this story is that about 25% of the horses sold at this auction went to kill buyers and only this one was rescued (though that part is very, very good).

p.s. there is a lot of language on this blog so read at your own risk.
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Update: This from one of the people rescuing this horse.
"This horse's condition is ridiculous...he is suffering terribly. Vet will see him tomorrow. I hope we can save him but no guarantees. Right now he is very, very lame but is tucked into a matted stall with 3 bags of shavings and plenty of good timothy so he's about as comfy as we can make him." (This is from the comments section of the above linked posts.) More later I hope.

Well What D'Ya Know!

It's the New Year! And I haven't blogged yet. Bummer.

The kids and I spent New Year's Eve playing around here with Nora, Matthew, Jonathan, Isaac and Sarah as is our annual tradition. When we first started watching the ball drop together there was only three kids between us, now there are six. It's getting harder to find places for them all once their bedtime hits. That's OK, I like a challenge.

Boys don't mind wearing tutus (Gabriel)...as long as you call them Princess Peach and tell them they're playing Super Mario Brothers.

Gideon loves to be upside down. The other day an old friend came for dinner and while we were chatting Gideon was playing on my lap. At one point I tip him forward and upside down just for a second or two and then stood him back up. He smiled at me and bent forward again with his head down and against my chest waiting for me to hold him upside down again. Today we were at a different friend's house and he did it again. Over and over, every time I stood him up he promptly leaned forward with his head down and waited for me to flip him up again. It got so that he wouldn't even stand up when I tried to right him he wanted to go immediately hiney up again.

The little girl on Extreme Home Makeover tonight is named Zion. Well at least it sounded like it was. I kept trying to listen for it to be repeated and I didn't but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. And it could have been spelled Xion, I've seen that before but still. It's pretty neat to see another Zion.

Rob's team got published. Go HERE to read about it. I'm so proud of my hubby, not just because of this but because he's such a great guy. No, I should say he's a good man. That paints a more accurate picture. What a lucky gal I am to have him!
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Such a BIG update on Gideon's "sleep boot camp" I just knew I had to use a different color to grab your attention. So drum roll please, ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd,


he has now slept through the last three nights from his 7:30 bedtime to 6-7 in the morning!!! I'll say it again...

he has now slept through the last three nights from his 7:30 bedtime to 6-7 in the morning!!!

Yeah. That's the three best nights of sleep that I've had in more than EIGHT months. Woohoo! Now if I could get my tired butt in bed before midnight (and if The Girls would quit "complaining" throughout the night about Gideon suddenly nursing less - you nursing mamas know what I'm talking about) I'd be golden. Speaking of, I'd best be off to bed. Praise God for me about this big step for Gideon.